May 2008 MMA News Archive - Page 8

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Dear CanadianMMA Fan,
The following is an important letter we recently sent to the Ministry of Health Promotion (MHP) of Ontario. As you may already be aware, our application for Amateur MMA is currently under review by the MHP. The purpose of the letter below is to further emphasize the safety of our proposed Amateur MMA rules.
As always, stay tuned to www.canadianmma.com for the latest information about MMA happenings in Ontario, Canada. We very much appreciate your continued support and we believe that as painstaking as this process has been we will achieve our goals of legalizing MMA in Ontario.
Also, be sure to tune to Global TV tomorrow night, Saturday, May 17 at 7pm to watch a new documentary called "The Real Fight Club" which touches upon some of the legalization issues surrounding MMA in Ontario.

Here’s an excerpt from the recent UFC 84: “Ill Will” pre-fight press conference call during which BJ Penn questions (antagonizes is perhaps a better word) Sean Sherk directly about his use of steroids:
You guys should defiantly listen to this!

Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett is getting ready to take on his former training partner and friend Jeff Monson on Sunday. World Victory Road will be staging its second event at Sengoku II in Tokyo.
Barnett recently explained his preparation for his fight with Monson. “Things are going pretty well,” said the Babyface Assassin. “Here I am taking another fight. Not real close from the last one, as far as time goes, but it's pretty quickly. I'm feeling pretty good about it. I just pro wrestled recently. I'm in good shape. It's just right.”
In WVR’s first event, Sengoku, Barnett defeated Hidehiko Yoshida via heel hook. That fight was Barnett’s first fight in more than a year, so he naturally had some criticism about his performance. “I know there were things I could have been sharper at. Some of that had to do with the availability of sparring partners and what kind of workouts I was getting in prior.”
Most Americans prefer to fight in their native land; however, fighting in Japan does not bother Josh Barnett one bit. “I love working in Japan,” he commented in a recent interview on MMAWeekly Radio. “For me, it's like being at home. It's no big deal for me to go out there.”
One of the biggest reasons Barnett enjoys fighting in Japan is because of the differences in the rules as opposed to rules imposed in the United States. “You can't soccer kick, stomp or knee someone in America. They won't let you wear shoes anymore. If you want to go and fight under the more dynamic rule set, then you have to go out to Japan to get it done. I really like to have the freedom in the ring to do the techniques and kinds of things that are available to you as a martial artist.”

EliteXC President Gary Shaw made it clear Thursday that he would like to bring former UFC light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz into EliteXC.
"I think I can reincarnate Ortiz," said Shaw. "He is a talented fighter and has all the mechanisms that you need to make someone a superstar."

‘The Legend’ Frank Shamrock recently took some time to talk with PDG about his recovery from arm surgery, his fight with Cung Le, the future of mixed martial arts and the extension of his career as a fighter.
PDG: Let's start with your arm injury, how is the recovery coming?
Frank: The arm is very good. I had a checkup yesterday and the doctors said that they will most likely remove the plate in about seven more weeks. If everything works out I will be back training again in 10 weeks.

Josh Barnett takes on his former training partner Jeff Monson
The origanal web link did not work sorry,but sounds like a personall fight. I did not know him and Monson trained together. This might belong in a different forum.

"This guy went on Howard Stern and said he was getting $200,000 a fight,” White said. “That was such a lie. Tito made $5.8 million in 2006. He only fought once in 2007. He made $710,000 for that fight (with Rashad Evans) and that was the third match from the top (on the card). He goes around saying we made $231 million last year. He’s a moron. This guy talks about what a businessman he is, and he was on ‘The Apprentice’ and he doesn’t know the difference between revenue and profit."
“There’s not going to be any bidding war,” White said. “Gary Shaw (promoter at Elite XC) should offer him $30 a fight, because we’re not going to match it.”
So I think it's safe to say there will be no reconciliation

Finals are over at The State University of New York at Cortland (SUNY Cortland), which means that recent graduate Tamdan McCrory can resume his mixed martial arts career inside the Octagon.
“The Barncat” took a brief respite from competition to get his degree after falling victim to one of the most beautiful armbars in recent memory at UFC 78: “Validation,” losing to crafty veteran Akhiro Ghono in round two via submission back in November 2007.
He will return against The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 2 welterweight finalist, Luke Cummo, at UFC 87 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on August 9, according to FightTicker.com.
Cummo is also looking to bounce back from a loss after dropping a unanimous decision to Luigi Fioravanti at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” back in March. Prior to the defeat Cummo was on a two-fight win streak after losing back-to-back fights.
UFC 87 will feature the heavyweight tilt between Brock Lesnar and Mark Coleman, as well as the number one lightweight contender eliminator match between Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta.

Whether he wins or loses May 24 in Las Vegas against Lyoto Machida, it certainly appears Tito Ortiz will end his 11-year Ultimate Fighting Championship career. But there will be no televised celebration of his accomplishments when the fight is over.
UFC president Dana White will want it to end as quietly as possible, with Ortiz as an afterthought, and the crowning of the undefeated Machida as a new top star.
After years of a very public war between the promoter and one of his top stars, the UFC 84 fight essentially determines who gets in the last word.
“He’s one of the most dishonest human beings I’ve ever met,” White said. “I put up with him when he was a good fighter. He’s not anymore. He’s done. I’m no longer in the Tito Ortiz business.”

For the first time in U.S. mixed-martial-arts history, a female fighter has tested positive for steroids.
Carina Damm, who recently defeated Sophie Bagherdai at an April 3 Fatal Femmes Fighting event, tested positive for elevated levels of Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid that develops naturally in the human body.
However, according to the California State Athletic Commission's Bill Douglas, Damm came in at 37.9 ng/mL, which far exceeded the 2 ng/mL threshold, after being tested at the Los Angeles event.
Douglas today submitted the results via email.
Damm (9-3), a four-year fight veteran who recently signed a three-fight contract with Elite Xtreme Combat, has been suspended one year (through April 2, 2009) and fined $2,500. She's the first U.S. female fighter to fail a test due to steroids, though she can request an appeal of the suspension.
The Brazilian was riding a four-fight win streak and was scheduled to next fight Debi Purcell at a June 27 ShoXC event.

Gary Shaw's plans to expand EliteXC's Women's divisionmay have just taken a hit. Recent EXC signee Carina Damm, who was to have fought on June 27, has tested positive for Nandrolone according to the CSAC and has been suspended 1 year and fined $2500. She'll be eligible to fight again on April 2, 2009.

Yesterday ProElite and the IFL each gave notice that they will file late 10-Qs (end of quarter reports) with the SEC.
The story goes in to how ProElite is betting the farm on the CBS show. Its looks like if things don't go well for the show ProElite/EliteXC is done.

A graduate of Arizona State University and its wrestling program, which was recently dropped in the face of budget constraints, cuurent TUF contestant C.B. Dollaway has written a column about the move and its likely impact on wrestling & MMA today and tomorrow.

To the surprise of probably few people, EliteXC President Gary Shaw is already displaying a bit of a man crush on soon-to-be-free agent Tito Ortiz. With Ortiz' final UFC fight just 8 days away, there is already speculation that EliteXC will make a push to sign Ortiz. Shaw's even going so far as to imagine Tito vs. Kimbo Slice one day.

The ongoing battle between former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk and the state of California may not be down for the count just yet as the Minnesota native confirmed his focus for now is on B.J. Penn, but he may revisit legal action at some point down the road.
“Right now, basically, I was cleared to fight, had a date in mind, had a goal in mind and so I just wanted to first off get this fight out of the way and get my career back on track,” said Sherk during a recent appearance on MMAWeekly Radio. “And there’s no statute of limitations as far as how long I have to do this thing by, so I’m still talking to my lawyer. We’re still working some stuff out, and after this fight, maybe that’s something that we can go back to.”

Pun intended. Newly crowned StrikeForce Middleweight Champion Cung Le will appear in the first-ever MMA trading card series, to be released by Donruss later this year. Several versions of Le's card will be made, including autographed cards and cards with swatches of Le's competition shorts. Le also will appear in 2 films over the next year, "Fighting" and "Tekken".